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Monthly Archives: February 2013

Love is in the air, and the past few weeks at the salon have been many heart designs, pinks, reds, glitter, and love-themed.

Since V-Day and CNY (Chinese New Year) were so close this year, many of my clients did a combo using golds and reds and incorporated hearts into the design.

Aside from the usual red or pink glitter gradation, there have a few designs that have stood out to me. Here they are:

These are natural-nail overlays done using CalGel and Trump Gel colors. The lace and paisley motif was hand drawn with gel. This client is my oldest client by physical age, but she is my youngest at heart! Se has the most beautiful attitude and wonderful take on life. She is always dressed to the nines and always makes a grand entrance just by being so fabulous.

Another natural-nail overlay gel nails. Done using CalGel and Trump Gel colors. The holograms are Eriko Nails. The hearts are hand drawn with glitter gel. She works at the bar so her cuticle area are always really dry, and her nails take a beating, but she always makes a point to get them done and keep them looking good regardless. She selected the design. She said she found it on Pintrest.

A natural-nail overlay gel nails done using Trump Gel. One of my favorite clients! Ms. P works at the zoo. We always try to do an animal-themed nail design whenever she comes in. This month, we went with animal-print that’s not usually seen. This style is propulsion in Japan now, it’s like a cross between the-dye and marble. It is to make the animal print look more real and natural– almost like fur. I used red glitter gel to outline the deep French, and accented a few of the nails with heart holograms.

Another natural-nail gel overlay done using Trump Gel. This is for my really great friend, Ms. U! She is a bride-to-be who is taking time off from work to spend time with her fiancé before he gets deployed. I decided to send her off with some nail swag. We did a beige/nude gradation with mint holograms shaped into a heart.

This is a sculpture-nail overlay gel nails using Trump Gel. I used nail forms & soak-off hard gel (by Trump Gel) to sculpt and extend the length of her nails, since her natural nails were a tad too short to point. This was done for my friend, also Miss Chinatown Hawaii 2013! She picked out the famous Commes des Garçon logo as her v-day nail design.

Last, but not least: Ms. N! I have posted her nail designs in previous posts. She came to me this month with a CNY // VDay combo nail design in mind. This is a natural-nail design using CalGel base & Trump Gel colors and soak-off hard gel top sealer. I hand painted the hearts and word “LOVE” using glitter gel.

I hope all you bloggers have a fabulous Valentine’s Day! It’s not too late to go out and get your V-Day nail swag on!

Last week Thursday was one of my best best best friends’s birthday. So, I decided I would get her nail-ready for a night out with her hubby.

She’s very much into art and loves Frieda Cahlo and the Dia de Los Muertos themes. About a year ago, I did a day of the dead skull print for myself and she really loved it. So, we decided to go with a pastel & sugar skull theme.

My girl is super super small. And unfortunately that comes with incredibly small fingernails. Not only that, but due to stress, she can’t keep her nails long at all. So, we had to put tip extensions on all 10 fingers and extend them a little. Her nails were too short, so I was unable to use a sculpting form, that’s why we used the plastics tips.

Anyone who is trained properly knows not to apply the tip on directly onto the nails, but rather lay a thin layer of gel onto the natural nail, then apply the tip. Tips are difficult bc they need to be sized correctly according to each nail. Applying the tips without air pockets is also key. And last, but not least, blending. Blending is very important and can also be difficult. Blending is especially important when painting the whole nail with gel bc if its not done perfectly, you will be able to see every imperfection.

I haven’t done too many extensions yet, so this was good practice for me. Luckily she is so patient and sat through with me. The end result came out pretty great, and best of all, my bestie loved it!

These are tip extension gel overlay using Trump Gel. The colors are CalGel. The holograms are by Eriko Nails, and I used to regular acrylic paint to hand draw the sugar skulls.

Happy birthday to my wonderful, beautiful bestie! She is an amazing friend, wife, and mother!